How to clean your money during Covid-19 time?

From Zeepod, we are aware that this is a time to help and, above all, contribute to being part of the solution. As an app that encourages currency exchange peer to peer, we want to advise some good practices that could help reduce high rates of contagion. It is in our hands to change habits for our well-being and that of everyone around us.Money can be a source of possible Covid-19 infection. Both bills and coins pass through hundreds of hands, becoming an essential means of exchanging microbes person to person. A study published in 2017 looked at Dollar bills in New York City. Study results confirmed there are hundreds of microbes on the surface of the banknotes, including bacteria and viruses. If someone infected holds one of these bills, the virus can survive for days on its surface and thereby infect several people.Viruses abound on the planet, so we are always in contact with them through the surfaces we share. We know that it is not possible to disinfect all the surfaces we interact with throughout the day, but we have a theory, if we at least wash our hands and clean the objects we exchange, we could mitigate the spread of Covid-19.Be aware the best way to avoid infection is to stay at home following government recommendations. Even so, during the lockdown, some essential establishments will be available to satisfy basic needs (Hospitals, Drugstores, and Supermarkets). Although we currently encourage the use of electronic money, we know that this option is not available some times. ¿How about we commit to exchanging virus-free money? That is why we have brought you some tips to clean your money.

¿How to clean the bills/banknotes?

The sun can play a significant role in cleaning bills/banknotes during a crisis caused by the coronavirus. Although it is unknown how the temperature affects the virus, what seems quite clear is that ultraviolet radiation can help deactivate It. In China, ultraviolet light cleaning spaces have been improvised to disinfect some means of transport, hospitals, and elevators.China’s central bank said in February that it was disinfecting and isolating used bills/banknotes with UV lights in its efforts to combat the coronavirus.Considering the above, we recommend exposing the bills/banknotes to the sun for 2 hours on each side; this would help disable the virus.

¿How to clean the coins?

How many times in life have you cleaned your coins? ¿Do you know how many hands they’ve gone through? Covid-19 wants us to be aware of it. We must have better cleaning practices and more with the objects that we continuously exchange. Below we are going to show you some options with homemade ingredients that we can use to clean our coins without damaging them.These cheats are for coins that have no collectible value.

Use soap and water.

Immerse the coin in warm water, leaving it for a while (5min) for the dirt to dissolve.

Remove the dirty water and recharge the container again with warm soapy water.

Add the liquid soap. Gently rub the coin with the toothbrush. Make sure that there is no accumulated residue on the edges.

Finally, let them dry in the sun on kitchen towels.

Use Vinegar

Vinegar is an excellent complement in cleaning, and it is also for coins since it serves to remove rust:

Put the coins under the cold-water tap. The water pressure will help us remove dirt.

Put them in a container with vinegar for two minutes. The vinegar serves to remove all traces of rust.

Then put them back under the tap and turn on the hot water tap.

Remove them from the water and let them dry in the sun on kitchen towels.

Use alcohol and salt.

This method can leave the coins very clean. It is incredible how salt and alcohol work on metal, cleaning it correctly. Follow the next steps:

To one glass and a half of alcohol, add three tablespoons of salt.

Stir the alcohol in such a way the salt be diluted as much as possible.

Dip the coins you want to clean into the alcohol and salt mixture.

If the coins are filthy, leave them to soak for several days, with five or six days is sufficient. If they are lightly soiled for one day, it may be enough.

Rinse your coins, preferably with distilled water, since it will help so that there are no remnants of the mixture in which they were submerged.

Let them dry in the sun on kitchen towels.

We hope this article has been useful and makes us aware that the commitment is everyone’s.